Matthew Sweet @ The Egg, 6/22/12

by Michael Eck
ALBANY – “Thank you, goodnight!”
Matthew Sweet was kidding, of course. He’d only played three songs, but he did point out that those three were the ones that usually close his concerts instead of opening them.
Sweet brought his band to The Egg Friday night to revisit his 1991 masterpiece, “Girlfriend.”
The record’s 20th Anniversary Tour kicked off last year but its popularity has kept the quartet on the road rolling it out every night for months.
All the hallmarks that made the album a classic were in evidence at The Egg — great songs, tight harmonies and ridiculous amounts of lead guitar.
That trio — “Divine Intervention,” “I’ve Been Waiting” and the title tune — set a high bar for the night, but nostalgia kicked in hard for the “deep cuts” as well.
In a night filled with remarkable solos, gunslinger Dennis Taylor took “Evangeline” even higher; and the “Zuma”-like angles of “Winona” positively crackled.
Taylor apes the original record well, but his tone is thicker and his approach more West Coast than Soho. Few were keeping score, though. Rather they were soaking it in.
Sweet’s crowd was surprisingly tame by Egg standards, vocal, but not annoying. Sweet did engage the audience, often employing his I-was-ironic-before-ironic-was-cool stance. After finally completing the album, and its bonus tracks, for example, Sweet introduced “Sick of Myself” by calling it an appropriate song.
In fact, Sweet and crew only played a few non-”Girlfriend” tracks, including “She Walks the Night” from last fall’s “Modern Art.” Odd that he’s not really pushing the new record, but smart that he’s hitting on “Girlfriend” while it’s hot again.
Some of the album’s tunes returned to ear as pleasant surprises.
The hypnotic “Your Sweet Voice,” which closes the album proper, shimmered at The Egg, with its haunting melody taunting its electric chords.
The post-divorce trio of “Thought I Knew You,” “You Don’t Love Me” and “I Wanted To Tell You” also confirmed what a crackerjack package the album was, and still is.
That aforementioned title track, with its furious riffing, drew the evening’s biggest applause, but the snotty “Does She Talk?” had even more Bowery grit.
Many in Friday’s half-house remember when Sweet brought the original “Girlfriend” tour to Bogie’s on Ontario Street during their college days. They were likely telling their high-schoolers all about it as they left for the evening.
Many of those same folks opted to reminisce in the lobby in lieu of investigating opening act “A Fragile Tomorrow,” whose upcoming debut was produced by Georgia popmeister Mitch Easter. The band offered a friendly set of spiffy jangle, but nothing to get worked up about.

Good review, Mike. Loved the show! I remember those Matthew Sweet shows at Bogie’s and at Pearl Street in Northampton. We were so much younger then. Yeah, he’s aging as we all are, but he still has the voice to pull off these songs. ‘Girlfriend’ was one of the best albums of the 90s, and it’s awesome to see people still appreciate good songwriting and killer solos.

Good review of Sweet but no mention of his singular guitar sound that grew tiresome after 5 songs and downright annoying after 7 (the guy couldn’t bring an acoustic?). A Fragile Tomorrow (whom I had never heard of of until 10 minutes before the show) were fantastic. The band was tight, the harmonies were superb and music sounded like a cross between Elvis Costello, Any Trouble and the Gin Blossoms. You didn’t even mention how taken the crowd was with the band. Dismissing their music as a “spiffy jangle, but nothing to get worked up about.” makes it sound like you too stayed out in the lobby.